{"id":821134,"date":"2026-07-24T15:43:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T15:43:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/821134\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T15:43:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T15:43:10","slug":"australia-world-cup-midfielder-allegedly-tests-positive-for-cocaine-after-speeding-in-sydney","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/821134\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia World Cup midfielder allegedly tests positive for cocaine after speeding in Sydney"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Cristian<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old made four appearances at the World Cup for Australia. Kevin C. Cox\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

July 24, 2026 9:39 am EDT Updated <\/p>\n

Australia midfielder Cristian Volpato has allegedly tested positive for cocaine after being caught twice for speeding in Sydney, according to media reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old, who plays his club football for Italian Serie A team Sassuolo, made four appearances at the World Cup for Australia, starting the round of 32 game as Australia were eliminated on penalties by Egypt.<\/p>\n

According to a statement from New South Wales (NSW) police, the driver identified in reports as Volpato was first stopped on the Anzac Bridge in Sydney, in the Australian state at around 11:05pm local time on Thursday, after the car was allegedly recorded travelling at 86-94km\/h (53.4-58.4mph) in a 60km\/h (37.2mph) zone.<\/p>\n

Volpato subsequently returned a negative result in a roadside breath test and was issued an infringement notice for driving more than 20km\/h over the speed limit.<\/p>\n

The same vehicle was stopped once again on the Anzac Bridge just over two hours later, this time allegedly detected travelling at 109km\/h (67.7mph) in a 60km\/h zone.<\/p>\n

Police confirmed that the driver was subsequently subjected to a roadside drug test, where he allegedly returned a positive test result for cocaine. A secondary sample of oral fluid was taken for further analysis.<\/p>\n

He was served a second infringement notice for excess speed and had his international driver\u2019s licence suspended for a period of six months, NSW police said, meaning that he cannot drive in NSW. He has not been charged with a criminal offence.<\/p>\n

Police added that inquiries continue.<\/p>\n

The Athletic has contacted Sassuolo, Football Australia and Volpato\u2019s representatives for comment.<\/p>\n

Volpato was born in Sydney and is of Italian descent. He spent time in the academy of Serie A club Roma and represented Italy at Under-19, Under-20 and Under 21 level before opting to play for Australia at senior level. He received his first call-up ahead of the World Cup in June, starting a friendly against Switzerland in June.<\/p>\n

\"Connections:\"Connections:<\/p>\n

Jul 24, 2026<\/p>\n

Connections: Sports Edition<\/p>\n

Spot the pattern. Connect the terms<\/p>\n

Find the hidden link between sports terms<\/p>\n

Play today’s puzzle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 22-year-old made four appearances at the World Cup for Australia. Kevin C. Cox\/Getty Images July 24, 2026…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":821135,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,126352,596,18943,10815,85],"class_list":["post-821134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fifa-mens-world-cup","tag-football","tag-international-football","tag-serie-a","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=821134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821134\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/821135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=821134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=821134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=821134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}